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Every person in the world has experienced competition in some way, shape or form. For some, it is a natural part of their everyday lives. In my own personal experience, I have experienced competition in regards to my grades, scholarships, and when I played sports in high school and middle school. I also had to compete in my high school orchestra for the highest chair in a certain section. Today, I am competing for my grades and will soon be competing for job positions as I enter the work force, once I become a college graduate.
High school and middle school were the periods of my life where competition was the most prevalent. Not only was I competing for grades so that I could remain competitive when I needed to start applying for scholarships,
There are people who are not as motivated, they are often referred to as the underachievers. However, once they have someone to compete with, they are more likely to become motivated to improve and excel. This is where competition serves as a healthy motivator. There is a friend who was exhausted of being constantly compared to his overachieving older brother. This caused him to start studying and working harder in order to become just as good as his brother. The situation showed how he did not need to bring down his older brother in order to be just as successful. Competition serves its purpose, when one finds themselves competing with themselves instead of their competitor. When one is competing with themselves, they are allowing themselves to grow and improve to become a better person. They do not have to compete with someone else, nor degrade others success in order to make their achievements seem exceptional.
Competitions are not just about fun and games. For example, competing against many other students for college classes can become very stressful. Last quarter, my friend was not able to get any of the classes she needed. This made her very stressed because she needed certain classes in order to complete her major requirements on time. This shows that living in a place where competition is everywhere can be very stressful. On top of that, passing all our classes with a C or higher can be a competition for students as well. Last quarter, I was really stressed out for my Macroeconomic class. I thought I was going to fail that class because I found the material difficult and the class itself challenging. On the other hand, my friend who also took that class with me thought it was easy and did very well. I was really stressed out because I worked very hard, but it did not reflect in my course grade. This shows...
I don’t think it would eliminate competition. In fact, I think it would only make things worse. If nobody could be better than anybody else, people would want to break the rules and push the limits. In “Harrison Bergeron”, Hazel and George’s son Harrison is according to the text, “He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.”. He is a genius, and athlete, and strong. He wants to stop the government. According to the text, “has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government.”. He wants to break the rules because there are rules. If there were no rules, no one would want to break them because there would be no fun in it.
Competition should not be enforced because it makes people feel too stressed and feel like winning is all that matters. “Competition is not inevitable part of human nature, that it causes anxiety and shame, that it creates disabling stress that inhibits performance, and that it fosters aggression and hostility.” (Kohn 1) According to this information it shows just how this hurts people and stresses people way too much. Nobody wants anxiety and shame or stress from just a silly competition. Levine, a clinical psychologist says, “The pressure faced by many children in competitions are leading to an increase in mental health disorders, drug abuse, anxiety and sometimes suicide.”(1) This should open many eyes to see what competition is doing to people. Putting them under way too much that it leads to either physical or mental problems, which is not right. Competition should be taken out of human society obviously when it is coming from a clinical psychologist to do so. “We adults naturally want to insulate our kids from the insanity that awaits them. But are we doing them any favors? Yes, kids have to learn that life is about a lot more than winning and losing. Yet, if we work so hard to cushion them from experiencing loss, when the sting finally finds them, it’s bound to feel more significant...
I found that much of my free time is spent socializing with friends and competing in numerous sports and hobbies. I found that much of my daily life revolves around competition, from playing collegian level soccer to video games with friends. Competition has always interested me from a very young age when I first begin playing soccer. However, I found there is a distinction between healthy competition and unhealthy competition within my own interests. Healthy competition was doing my best in order to advance and develop a skill or process. Conversely, Unhealthy competition was a sole focus on winning and a trap I have fallen into many times. In the work world today healthy competition can be a monumental tool used to engage and motivate employees. In class we have talked about a company called Nucor that has used competition within shifts to advance technology through innovation and increasing production. I believe my interest in competition and my competitive drive when instrumented in the right environment could be a huge motivator in the future
Competition is in nearly every aspect of American life. Some may even say that American culture thrives on competition. Throngs of spectators herd into public arenas to watch favorite sports teams compete. Parties are hosted to watch televised competitive sporting events. Businesses coerce consumers to enter shopping facilities through the means of competitive sales ploys. It is only natural that the competitive spirit extends into the education arena.
“Nobody was smarter than anyone else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else”, in this quote from “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., he shows how life is insipid without competition (Vonnegut, Jr. 1). Humans are always trying to better themselves and have more than others. Competition is beneficial for society and should not be eliminated because it can incite motivation, provide helpful life lessons, and lead to higher success.
Secondly, being competitive will help advance me in my future. Having an edge of competitiveness will help give me the drive in life to keep going and never give up. Having this drive will always assist to be better and successful. This will benefit me to be the best at my career (Athletic Trainer). This trait that I’ve learned, from playing for Muhlenberg has helped me grow and
Being competitive means having a strong desire to be successful in most outcomes or situations. Nicole gained this competitive drive around the time she was a freshman in high school. One of the extracurricular activities she took in was dance, and in that class a lot of the dancers were really competitive about being in the front of the stage for performances. Nicole, always wanting to be in the front on stage like everybody else became extremely competitive. Any time a performance would be coming up she would walk into class ready to compete with the others for a front spot. Nicole noticed that anytime the competitive side of her would come out her way of communicating with others would change. When she would talk to some of the dancers she competed against she noticed that her voice would deepen a little, maybe this was a way of trying to show some dominance when talking. A nonverbal communication skill that she noticed as well was that she would stand up a lot straighter and would always have this very determined facial expression on her face. Finally she also always makes direct eye contact with people when her competitive side comes out. All these verbal and nonverbal communication differences that show in her are what help her show people that she is determined to fight and get to the
Healthy competition can drive people forward. Allowing a kid to doing what they want because they enjoy it can open them up socially by allowing them to reach out and teach others that don’t have that same niche. If we force a child to be overly competitive, this decreases the child’s ability to grow in other areas in life because they are too focused on being the best. If they don’t live up their standards of being the best, this will cause the child to be insecure about their abilities and they will constantly seek approval. Unhealthy competition can detrimental later on in life when trying to get into a great school, find a partner or in getting a job.
middle of paper ... ... Thus, competition leads people to envy the winners, to dismiss losers and to be suspicious of just about everyone. Competition makes it difficult to regard others as potential friends or collaborators; even if one is not a rival today, one could be tomorrow. The first step to achieving happiness and health is recognizing the value of competition built on myths.
There is a misconception that competition is bad, if a child can experience the thrill of winning and the disappointment of losing, they will be well equipped for the reality of life. Competition provides stimulation to achieve a goal; to have determination, to overcome challenges, to understand that hard work and commitment leads to a greater chance of success. Life is full of situations where there are winners and losers; getting a job; a sports game; not getting into a desired college. People need to learn how to cope with disappointment and then to look forward to the next opportunity to try again. Competition also teaches us to dig deep and find abilities we never knew we had. The pressure to win or succeed can often inspire more imaginative thinking and inspire us to develop additional
Humans are naturally competitive and through athletics this competitiveness can be released in a positive and focused way. Competition is a basic function of nature. Those that can best compete with their environment survive. Those who can’t compete die out. Competition is a powerful drive in all humans. We compete as groups, against our selves, and each other. Sports give us a channel to let this out in a safe way.
Yes, it is to a certain extent. Competition is good for us as it challenges each individual. Without competition, there would be no standards and we would not know how to improve on areas we lack. In addition, we may not know where we stand, be it mentally, physically and academically. Different kinds of competition challenge us in different aspects and helps us to progress and move with times.
If there is someone who happens to be a person who isn’t competitive there are multitudes of other ways to get motivated to exceed and surpass goals. Being competitive doesn’t come naturally to all people; maybe not even to a majority of people, but to those who need some extra motivating then learning to compete a little more may help them. I understand there are always going to be people who say that competitiveness goes against wanting to keep the peace, but being competitive doesn’t have to break the peace. There is many a way to be competitive and still be peaceful. I think that people learn the most about how to be competitive and get motivation from observing others around them.